‘Biagetti on Freemasonry in Revolutionary Rhode Island’

    

Collegivm Lvminosvm, Rhode Island’s research lodge, will continue its celebration of America’s 250th anniversary by welcoming a speaker to discuss the Craft of the Revolutionary era. From the publicity:

Collegivm Lvminosvm to Host

Historical Presentation

in Celebration

of America’s 250th Birthday

Collegivm Lvminosvm will hold its Michaelmas Term Communication on Wednesday, September 30 at the Valley of Providence, and is proud to host Semiquincentennial Lodge 250 with a very special guest speaker.

To help us celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, Dr. Samuel Biagetti will present “Freemasonry in Revolutionary Rhode Island.” Dr. Biagetti’s award-winning research has been published in the journal Early American Studies and the Journal of Caribbean History. His dissertation, “The Only Universal Monarchy: Freemasonry, Ritual, and Gender in Revolutionary Rhode Island, 1749-1803,” is the single most comprehensive work on the formative years of Rhode Island Freemasonry written in the past century.

Collegivm will open at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:30, and the program will start at approximately 7:15. Dinner and the presentation are open to all Masons and their guests. Reservations for dinner are required by Friday, September 25. Contact Bro. Joshua here and provide the number of guests in your party.

The Scottish Rite is located at 2115 Broad Street in Cranston.

Samuel Biagetti

Biagetti earned his Ph.D. in early American history from Columbia University in 2015. His podcast, Historiansplaining, can be heard on the usual platforms. Of his thesis, the basis of his topic for September 30, he says:

Historians, in considering Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, have tended to define it in political terms, as an expression of enlightened sociability and of the secular public sphere that supposedly paved the way for modern democracy. A close examination of the lodges in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island, between 1749 and 1804, disproves these received notions. It finds that, contrary to scholarly perception, Freemasonry was deeply religious and fervently committed to myth and ritual. Freemasonry in this period was not tied to any one social class, but rather the Fraternity attracted a wide array of mobile, deracinated young men, such as mariners, merchants, soldiers, and actors, and while it was religiously heterogeneous, the fraternity maintained a close relationship with the Anglican Church. The appeal of Masonry to young men in Atlantic port towns was primarily emotional, offering lasting social bonds amidst the constant upheaval of the eighteenth century, as well as a ritually demarcated refuge from the patriarchal responsibilities of the male gender.

   

Masonry celebrated the holiness of kingship in its myths and symbols; far from hotbeds of revolution, the lodges were haunted by the Jacobite movement, which was firmly royalist and traditionalist. Its main political impact in Anglo-America came in the aftermath of independence, when Masonic art and rhetoric helped to carve out a sphere of sacred institutions and loyalties—such as the Constitution, the Navy, the judiciary, and the figure of George Washington—that purportedly stood above partisan politics, and hence could take the place of the overthrown monarch. Far from proto-democratic, Freemasonry appealed to men’s longing for the unity and stability of a restored Biblical kingdom; the lodges operated largely by social deference and suppressed internal politicking. The Masons summed up their mission in their repeated toasts in the 1790s that prayed, “May universal Masonry be the only universal monarchy.”

     

‘Happy anniversary (sort of) to Grand Lodge!’

    

National Portrait Gallery

John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl

On this date 245 years ago, Freemasonry in New York began its transformation from factious lodges, tied to the opposing sides in the American Revolution, to the post-colonial cohesive fraternity—the Grand Lodge of New York we have today.

There are a number of books to read about this complicated story, but I turn to the massive History of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons and Concordant Orders published in 1893. Spanning more than 900 pages, it devotes appropriate space to recounting what happened. The following excerpt comes mid thought on the matter of a requested lodge warrant (Lodge No. 215):

...the Duke of Athol, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, “Ancients,” granted, on September 5, 1781, a warrant to open a Provincial Grand Lodge in New York City. During the interval between the granting of the warrant and the first meeting of the Grand Lodge, December 5, 1782, the Grand Lodge of England was opened on American soil for the first, and possibly the only, time. The extract, which we give in full, has been duly authenticated by Colonel Shadwell H. Clerke, Grand Secretary of England, as follows:

Extract from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of ‘Free and Accepted Masons, according to the Old Institutions,’ at present in the Archives of the United Grand Lodge of England, Freemasons’ Hall, London:

Grand Lodge opened at 4 o’clock in the City of New York, North America, on the 21st February, An. Do. 1782, An. Lap. 5782.

The R.. W... & Rev’d Br. William Walter P.G.M. Elect as D.G.M.;

the R.. W.. Br. John St. Browning, Esq., P.S.G.W. Elect as S.G.W.;

the R.. W... & Rev’d Br. John Barkley, P.J.G.W. Elect as J.G.W.;

the R.. W.. Br. Isaac Callins, P.M. of 169 as Gd. Secy.;

Present: Br. Cunningham, Mr. of No. 169; Warden, S.W. of No. 169; Lounds, J.W. of No. 169; Barclay, P.M. of 169; McEwen, P.M. of No. 169; Collins, Mr. of No. 210; Watson, S.W. of No. 210; Grigg, J.W. of No. 210; Br. Cock, Mr. of No. 212; Courtney, S.W. of No. 212; Harrison, J.W. of No. 212; Hodson, P.M. of No. 212; Crowell, P.M. of No. 212; Drew, Mr. of No. 213; Fife, S.W. of No. 213; Geddes, J.W. of No. 213; Stokes, P.M. of No. 213.

Installed according to Ancient usage:

Maximilian de Strait, Master.

The Rev’d John Phillip Erb, S.W.

Vice David Schoeph, absent.

George Dorg, J.W.

Vice Ferd’d Foester, dead.

All matters relative to this Constitution being complaited, the Gd. Officers aforesaid, in the name of the Most Noble Prince John, Duke of Athol, G.M., proclaimed the New Lodge duly constituted, No. 215, registered in Grand Lodge Book, volume 8, letter H., to be held in the Second Reg’t of Anspack Berauth.

Closed before 7 o’clock, adjourned to the Grand Lodge in London.

N.B. The Rev’d Will’m Walter was empowered to act as D.G.Mr. (for three hours only) by an authority from Wm. Dickey, Esqr., D.G.M.

   [Seal.]

   Certified as a true extract,

   SHADWELL H. CLERKÉ, G.S.

N.B. The name Browning above given is a mistake. It should be Brownrigg.

S.H.C.

The Lodges, Nos. 169, 210, “Ancient”; 212, “Ancient”; No. 52, in her Majesty’s 37th Regiment of Foot; “Moriah,” No. 133, in her Majesty’s 22d Regiment of Foot; No. 213, “Ancient,” in 44th Battalion of Royal Artillery; No. 215, “Ancient,” in 2d Regiment of Anspack Berauth; No. 441, “Irish,” held in her Majesty’s 38th Regiment; “Sion’s,” held by dispensation in her Majesty’s 57th Regiment, were present and assisted at the formation of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, December 5, 1782, of which Reverend William Walter, A.M., was Grand Master.

The principal business of the Grand Lodge in the early days was the healing of “Modern” Master Masons (in one case St. John’s Lodge, “Moderns,” made application, and the Master and Wardens were admitted in the Grand Lodge and initiated in the “Ancient” mysteries).

The purchase and acceptance of presents of lottery tickets also received favorable attention.

March 13, 1783, the Grand Lodge granted its first warrant, in New York City, to Concordia, No. 6.

The Grand Lodge was at this time controlled by the Army lodges. In the lodge, during the turmoil of war, the Royalists and the Federalists were wont to meet upon the square, both sides meeting upon the level. When the time came for the evacuation of New York by the British troops, the Grand Lodge, September 19, 1783, —

“Resolved, That the Grand Warrant shall be left, and remain in the use of such brethren as may hereafter be appointed to succeed the present Grand Officers, the most of whom being under the necessity of leaving New York upon the removal of his Majesty’s troops,” etc.

Grand Master Walter resigned, and Brother William Cock was elected and installed Grand Master.

February 4, 1784, the three oldest Masters of different lodges were appointed a committee on charity.

Grand Master William Cock resigned, and Robert R. Livingston was elected Grand Master and installed by proxy.

March 3, 1784, Livingston was personally installed and inducted into the Chair as Grand Master. It is said he was a “Modern” Mason, and his being elected Grand Master of an “Ancient” Grand Lodge caused many of the “Modern” lodges to come forward and seek admission into the Grand Lodge, and to apply for new warrants, which were accordingly granted.

December 23, 1786, it was ordered that all the lodges in the State hand in their respective warrants, so that the rank and precedency of the whole might be determined.

On March 7, 1786, a committee was appointed, “To consider the propriety of holding the Grand Lodge under the present warrant, and that proper measures be taken to effect a change, if it should be thought constitutional and expedient.”  The committee subsequently reported that no change was necessary, except in the draft of the style of warrant to be hereafter granted by the Grand Lodge. As soon as the precedency of the lodges was established, then all the lodges were to take out new warrants, and deliver up the old ones. On June 3, 1789, the question of precedency was settled.

Who was John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl? Most of what we find on the web chronicles his peerage, many titles, place in the family tree, etc. Born 1755. Died 1830. It seems the narrative of his biography concerns Freemasonry, and he is remembered in England for serving as the final Grand Master of the Ancients leading into the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. He resigned his position on November 8 of that year, setting in motion the process that would culminate in the Duke of Sussex, Grand Master of the Moderns, becoming an Ancient Mason on December 1, and subsequently the first Grand Master of the UGLE on December 27.

But that’s a whole other blog post.

     

‘Good Samaritan’s “All Wars” dinner’

    

Click to enlarge.

Good Samaritan Lodge 336 in Gettysburg is appreciated for, among other reasons, its occasional dinners when the menu is comprised of period dishes one might have eaten around the time the U.S. Civil War remade the obscure rural crossroads into a national shrine. With the meal each time has been a historical program that recreates part of life during that wartime. Another such dinner is planned for later this month for which the chosen fare will represent tastes from the four wars that formed and transformed our nation, with commentary by voices from the past. From the publicity:

All Wars Dinner: America 250

Good Samaritan Lodge 336

Saturday, September 26

9 Lincoln Square

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Doors at 5 p.m. Dinner at six.

$50 per person. Tickets here.

Travel through 250 years of American history—one plate and one story at a time!

Join Good Samaritan 336 for our All Wars Dinner: America 250, a special evening celebrating the people, stories, and food connected to Gettysburg and America’s military history.

Enjoy a historic menu inspired by four eras of American history, from George Washington’s Mount Vernon Salad and Civil War-era punches, to World War I trench cake and a Second World War-inspired C-Rations dinner.

Throughout the evening, we’ll also share the stories of individuals with connections to Gettysburg, including Lt. James Gettys, Col. Henry Morrow, Mamie Eisenhower, and Willis Wolf Eisenhart.

Come hungry, leave with a little more history!

I normally wouldn’t spend fifty bucks to eat C-Rations, but they did say Mamie Eisenhower. Seriously though, this sounds like another great lodge event. Get there for the whole day and make this your Saturday night dinner, or spend the weekend touring the sights. It’s Gettysburg. Lots to do.

     

‘For sale: d’oh!-main name’

    

I was chagrined this evening to discover this. The Knights of the North, publisher of the influential treatise Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith, finally—I know not when, but somewhat recently—abandoned its domain name. D’oh!

The KOTN morphed into the Masonic Society in 2008 and, one alum’s effort to revive the knighthood in 2019 notwithstanding, it’s been kaput. Still, it’s sad LP is no longer available on the web.

     

‘General Grand news’

    

If you haven’t heard via social media or from your grand chapter or grand council, there’s grand news from the District of Columbia, where Triennial 2026 is underway. The ballots have been counted, and the general grand bodies have new officers.

The General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons International shall be governed the coming three years by:

   General GHP Chadwick B. Burks

   General Grand King Piers A. Vaughan

   General Grand Scribe Patrick Carr

   Deputy General GHP Fred Palmer

General Grand Chapter

Also, Jason Sheridan is the new General Grand Custodian of the Work, and Mark Peerson is the Ambassador to New York.

At the General Grand Council of Cryptic Masons International, they’re celebrating in New Jersey where local M.I. Past Grand Masters have been elected. That team is:

   MP General Grand Master William Keith Powell

   RP Deputy General Grand Master Mark Irwin

   RP General Grand Principal Conductor of the Work Sean McNorton

   RP General Grand Treasurer Mark Megee

   RP General Grand Recorder Kevin Sample

I’ve known many of these outstanding Masons a long time, and I wish them all the best in the hard labor that awaits them.

General Grand Council

And condolences to those who did not win election. Agent Reed, you have an amazing future in the Masonic world to continue the impressive journey you’ve traveled.

Disclosure: In general, I believe these General Grand bodies need not exist any longer, but you know how hard it is to close down a bureaucracy. But, if the tools are wielded by capable hands, then I’ll stop saying these groups should be closed down.

One request though: Please revamp The Royal Arch Mason Magazine. At the very least, please change the titles of the columns “King’s Komments” and “Scribe’s Scribbles.” They are so childish and demeaning it’s incredible to me how they have persisted. This is Freemasonry. In some cases, it is permissible to talk to us like we’re adults.

I haven’t received a copy of this magazine in a couple of years. I don’t remember asking to unsubscribe, but maybe I had. Part of me wonders if I was unsubbed because I was urging the editor to stop the baby talk. And The Cryptic Freemason magazine? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a copy of that. Is it still in production?

     

‘LORE 1786 to meet; transactions coming soon’

    

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786—known locally as LORE—is achieving a milestone: our first book of transactions in many years soon will go to press. Volume V will cover the eon spanning 2011 to 2022.

Eleven years is a long time between books, equaling  approximately forty-four meetings of the lodge (we missed one or two during the fake pandemic), and this book will relate material presented therein. We don’t have everything from all those meetings because we (mistakenly) brought to the lectern speakers who did not submit papers, and we cannot print digital visual slideshows in book form.

Yes, there will be ebook format, but also both hardcover and paperback books.

Congratulations to Secretary Erich on getting it done!

Our upcoming regular communication will be Saturday, September 12 at Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick. Lodge tyles at 9:30 a.m. Light refreshments before and lunch after. Two presentations on the bill:

Bro. Jerry, of Laurel Lodge 237, will discuss How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler, the late educator, author, and philosopher. The lodge trestleboard says this book is even more relevant today than when published in 1940. We’ll find out why.

The other presentation will come from myself. That weekend will be the precise bicentennial anniversary of the arrest and alleged disappearance of William Morgan at Batavia, New York. I’m not going to talk too much about that “Morgan Affair,” but instead will explain the resulting anti-masonic hysteria that nearly destroyed our fraternity in many states, focusing on the Anti-Masonic Party in New Jersey.

There’s history you might not expect—unless you study New Jersey politics, in which case these ridiculous people won’t faze you one second.

LORE meets on the second Saturdays of March, June, September, and December at Freemasons Hall, home of Union Lodge 19, in North Brunswick. It’s a research lodge, so we’re focused chiefly on Masonic history, but we’re open to other things deemed relevant to our mission. (We do not provide ritual instruction or welcome speculations on symbolism.)

     

‘Hiram Lodge’s 1750 EA°’

    

Hiram Lodge 1 Worshipful Master Clint Potter, who sat in the South for the degree, displays the lodge’s banner despite the breeze yesterday at Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven. My attempt to liven the banner’s color turned his wig blue!

On October 14, 1789, the recently organized Grand Lodge of Connecticut adopted an ordinance that caused every lodge entering an apprentice to forward to the grand treasurer three dollars from the fee paid the lodge by each initiate. I’m guessing that assessment has been increased since then, but what apparently has not changed is the ritual of the EA° worked by Hiram Lodge 1.

Established at New Haven on August 12, 1750, Hiram was chartered by RW Thomas Oxnard, then in his sixth year as Provincial Grand Master of New England under the premier Grand Lodge of England. Because Hiram antecedes its own grand lodge, and—from what I understand—still possesses the Oxnard warrant, it retains the freedom to work its 1750 vintage ritual. That is what ninety of us witnessed yesterday in an outdoor conferral of the First Degree on two candidates for the mysteries of Freemasonry, and that is what drew me to Fort Nathan Hale, site of the initiation.

Grand Senior Warden Mark Hawkins and Grand Senior Steward Bob Eubanks were very pleasant dining companions at the YMA Club and Lounge before the degree.

Not knowing the content of this ritual, I was expecting tradition similar to what unfolds in the ritual exposures Masonry Dissected and Three Distinct Knocks, which date to that general mid eighteenth century era. Instead, I was shocked to find this ritual is almost identical to… to… contemporary Grand Lodge of New Jersey work!

We received a commemorative coin yesterday.

There are a few big differences, but in the floor work and the dialogue among the lodge officers, the Entered Apprentice Degree we saw yesterday is mostly the same as one could see tomorrow night in a New Jersey lodge. Having spent nineteen years in New Jersey Freemasonry, its ritual remains cut, carved, stamped, etc. in my brain, despite my having left there a decade ago for the bluer pastures of New York. Those big differences are:

‣ When imparting the grip, there is a gesture named the “slip of interrogation.” It was shown to me prior to the degree, but I’ve never seen nor heard of it before—and, no, I won’t describe it.

‣ In explaining to the new apprentices the centrality of the Bible to the lodge’s doings, there comes (I think it’s called) the Bible Charge. Also previously unknown to me.

‣ I imagine every lodge has an oration delivered at the apron presentation, but Hiram’s is unlike any I’ve heard or read. It struck me as sounding somewhat modern, so I don’t know what to make of it. I was delighted to see the new apprentices were given quality aprons replete with cords & tassels.

‣ Conversely, and after the fact, I think I discerned something missing from what most of us know. My memory may be failing me, but I think the word of the degree was not imparted to the initiates in that same highly precise way and manner the rest of us might expect. Maybe my mind wandered or I’m just not recollecting it, but I think that was done more simply.

Unsurprisingly, there is no EA Lecture as 1750 predates William Preston’s Illustrations by decades.

I do not know anyone from Hiram 1, otherwise I simply would ask about these things. Anyway, it all comprised a wonderful early evening (we were finished before eight o’clock) and, while the two new Masons looked utterly baffled, I don’t doubt this was a genuinely enlightening experience for them.

The ambiance amid the trees of Fort Hale was what one would expect for an outdoor degree: (very) casual attire among those of us on the sidelines, although some of us wore suits (I left my suit jacket in the car); tiki torches for illumination; bug spray in abundance; spotty audio quality (the mikes were not picking up half of what was being said). The lodge’s ritualists wore period wardrobe.

Wasn’t it too hot on that late August day, you ask? The Grand Architect’s Weather Department couldn’t have been more kind, giving sunlight-gilded azure skies enhanced by a calming breeze that seemed to sanctify the entire scene. Perfection.

Masons from a variety of places were in attendance. In addition to various points around Connecticut, brethren traveled from Massachusetts, New Hampshire (a delegation from Hiram Lodge 9), New York (me), and Pennsylvania. This resulted in diverse regalia on exhibit.

The Pennsylvanians, coming from Richmond-Solomon’s Lodge 3, dating to 1764, in Philly; and even Pittsburgh(!), were on hand because of their induction earlier in the day of MW Shane Dufresne into the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. Speaking of initiations, the TCL is on a roll lately in conferring its Sidonian Degree on grand masters. New Jersey’s MW Omar Morris will enter Elizabeth Forest on Thursday. I think my grandfather was a member there.

I got into town later than I wanted, but still had time for a beer at The Owl Shop. The beer of the week was Coors, which gave me and the bartender a laugh, so I had a glass of Peroni. A perfect lager on a warm summer day. Although not a great distance, the drive is an unpleasant slog through the most crowded highways in the Northeast. Didn’t buy any pipe tobacco this time.

The pre-degree supper was very good. I had a succulent chicken breast with thick zucchini rounds, broccoli florets, and penne. We gathered for the meal about a mile up the street at a historic banquet hall.

IYKYK.

I wish there had been the chance to explore Fort Nathan Hale. Its history involves the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and even the Civil War, although, naturally, there was no fighting then.

The customary group photo. After the degree, everyone gathered in the West just before 8 p.m. Sunset was more than twenty minutes earlier, so it actually was pretty dark when snapping the picture. Some crude editing makes the photo somewhat publishable.

If Hiram plans to repeat this outstanding event, make sure you get there.

     

‘Sir Robert Moray Seminar: Masonic History in the Making’

    

I really wish I could tell you about this outstanding event, but no one is talking. September 26 is not a Lodge Sir Robert Moray 1641 meeting date; this event is not listed on the Provincial Grand Lodge’s calendar; the research lodge itself is mum (at least with me).

As you know, Matthew Leigh is the author of The Masons and the Mysteries in 18th Century Drama (2019), of which its publisher says: “The fathers of modern Freemasonry sought a classical pedigree for their rituals and forms of association. This volume offers the first academic study of how Freemasons writing in the first half of the 18th century deployed their knowledge of antiquity to bolster this claim and how the creative literature of the period reflected their ideas.” He is a professor of Classics at St. Anne’s College, Oxford University. (I hope he’s a Mason, but I don’t know.)

Lodge Sir Robert Moray 1641

Bro. Bruce is fifth from front. He is Marchmont Herald at the Court of the Lord Lyon.

Bro. Adam Bruce is a Past Master of Lodge Robert Moray 1641, a research lodge. Bro. Charles Winston’s name is recognizable from back issues of The Philalethes, and he is secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland’s History and Heritage Group.

This is not the first Sir Robert Moray Symposium. They seem to be held every couple of years.

It’s frustrating not knowing what these guys are up to! I can’t even find the start time.

If you’re unfamiliar with Robert Moray, the Scotsman was initiated into Freemasonry in 1641, during the Scots’ siege of Newcastle upon Tyne during the First English Civil War, making him the first non-operative made a Freemason on English soil—five years before Elias Ashmole.

     

‘Das Traubenfest am 4. Oktober’

    

Continuing the annual tradition commenced in 1888, the Ninth Manhattan District will host its Traubenfest on Sunday, October 4. This family-friendly “grape festival” of German food, beer, and music is hosted in German Masonic Park in Tappan.

And I’ve noticed the weather somehow is great every year.

That’s 89 Western Highway. Plenty of free parking.

     

‘If a cigar burns in a Forest…’

    

Click to enlarge.

If a cigar burns in a forest, and no one is around to smoke it, does it make a sweet aroma?

Welcome to the first Magpie Mason post concerning the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. This is prompted by news of a TCL Forest announcing a Halloween visit to a cigar bar—and I’m goin’.

Poshmark

Easton Forest 35 plans an afternoon at Famous Smoke Shop’s Easton, Pennsylvania headquarters. The image above has all the info. RSVP to Grand Tall Rice here.

I’m a Prophet in Grotto and am a former Shriner and a Sciot*, but I’ve never been a Tall Cedar. (If I’m not mistaken, my grandfather was a member in the 1970s.) And I ain’t joining now, but there’s no harm in smoking in this Forest.

I remember, when I was a newly raised Mason, leisurely driving through Easton one weekend and passing a charming old school temple. I assume that’s where Easton Lodge 152 meets, and Forest 35 too. I’ll swing by again that afternoon on the way to Famous Smoke Shop.

Maybe see you there.

Read about the Tall Cedars here. Famous Smoke Shop here. Leaf Cigar Bar here.

*I had demitted from both c. 2005 to get on the scoreboard in the Knights of the North’s Demit Combat Contest. “Ah youth, youth!”

     

‘Festive Board for Dummies’

    

Finally, a chance to wear sequins to a Masonic event! From the publicity:

Sequin-Level Lodge proudly announces what is expected to be the highlight event of the year—a Festive Board for Dummies featuring Bro. Christopher Hodapp, 33° and author of the international bestseller Freemasons for Dummies!

With only 80 tickets available, this event will absolutely sell out, so be sure to get your tickets early. Open to Masons and non-Masons.

The dinner will feature a seven-course meal with the traditional toasts. The cost for this amazing event is only $50 per person. See the flier below for more details.

Click here and scroll down.

Stand by…

This just in: “Sequin” refers to the Native Americans of Connecticut in centuries past.

Oh well. Click here for tickets.

     

‘Masonic Wisdom Cards for our daily meditations’

    

Lewis Masonic

Masonic Wisdom Cards. Click here.

From the fertile minds of Jonti Marks and Bridie Blaze, via Lewis Masonic, comes Masonic Wisdom Cards: A Deck for Daily Reflection. Think of them as working tools for daily meditations on Masonic thought.

This is not a tarot deck. While the cards are seventy-eight in number, they depict handmade images of symbols we know from the Craft lodge, plus several from the Mark and Royal Arch degrees. As Lewis Masonic Managing Director Martin Faulks recently phrased it on social media: “When I was made an Entered Apprentice, I was given three working tools to contemplate—and I remember being quietly disappointed that I couldn’t take them home with me.” I think we all suffered that awkward moment in the First Degree, but this package should make amends.

Lewis Masonic

I should note for my fellow Americans, almost all of the symbols in this deck are known to you, but there are a few that derive from other systems. The chisel is known to American Masons who have advanced to the Mark Degree but, in Craft rituals emanating from English and Scottish lodges, it is employed during the EA°, ergo its presence here. Likewise, the skirret and the pencil are taken up throughout the British Isles during the Third Degree. We also find the lewis, the wand, the key, and others, but allow these to inspire you to learn more about the rituals and symbols of our brethren across the Atlantic. (Frankly, the dormer window is a new one on me. I should have joined the Dormer Study Circle!)

From beyond the Craft, we encounter the keystone, the triple tau, the arch, the ark, and more. These also may be foreign to American Masons, but perhaps those cards may be motivational for pursuing further Light in the Royal Arch chapter. But enough disclaimers. What about the deck?

Reverse of the cards.

The backs of all cards are identical, displaying the deck’s title surrounded by six symbols, all amid a starry-decked canopy. The cards, from No. 1 Boaz to 78 Keystone, feature various shades of blues and greens. All very subdued, without distracting bright colors, which allows the user to focus on the symbols inside their ovoid frames. Those symbols—and remember they are hand drawn—are clear, but artistic; sober, but enchanting; animated, but calming. A balance is achieved that will facilitate the moments of contemplation that hopefully will conjure deeper understandings of Freemasonry’s symbols and epiphanize real life applications.

We are not alone in deciphering the symbols. Another tarot-like aspect is the inclusion with the deck of a key—a small booklet—penned by Jonti Marks who gives us his interpretations. None of us would have difficulty recognizing Card 59, captioned “The Point within a Circle,” and Marks helps us internalize its meaning, explaining:

Today’s card is an opportunity to consider the boundaries which operate in our lives, and which offer us frameworks and structures within which we can be useful to society, true to ourselves and faithful to our purpose. It asks us to appraise how well we are operating within these frameworks and how we might improve ourselves to do so more fully. It asks us to work on becoming ever more centered in our truth.

Conversely, card No. 31, captioned “Charity,” does not depict an obvious Masonic image, but rather shows a heart crowned with flames—reminiscent of the Claddagh ring?—surrounded by nine stars. Marks says:

Charity is not just giving to those who are worse off than ourselves. It is an open-hearted, fully-awakened cognizance of our very real connection with all life. Charity is love in action, and love is the essence, the nature, the stuff of life. Think on this. Study yourself. See where you are holding on to an illusion of separateness from your fellows. Learn to see beyond it.

As noted, the Masonic Wisdom Cards were made for personal reflection and growth, and I also recommend using decks to spark lodge discussion and activity. It would be fantastic for a Worshipful Master to distribute, say, a dozen cards among the brethren assembled. Each can devote a few minutes to discussing his card’s content and what it means personally, followed by the Master (or his designee) reading Bro. Marks’ explanations in the booklet. Perhaps a regular feature of every meeting could be conversation about just one card. After a degree, maybe talk about one or more cards relevant to that ritual. I don’t mean to micromanage.

I’ve been reading up on Bro. Jonti Marks online. His bio on Lewis Masonic states:

Born in London and growing up partly in England and partly in East Africa, Jonti was initiated into Freemasonry in Lodge Harmony 3084 EC in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 1990. He later joined Lodge Scotia, 1008 SC, also in Nairobi, and it was through the Scottish lodge that he was first introduced to the Holy Royal Arch, being exalted in Faith and Charity Chapter 329 SC in December 1991.

After moving back to England in 1998, Jonti, who was a school teacher and headmaster for twenty-seven years, joined the Old Bromsgrovian Lodge 5743 EC where he served as Master in 2013. Jonti was a founding member of the Old Bromsgrovian Chapter and he was the first member to pass through all three Chairs of that Chapter. He is Past Provincial Grand Sword Bearer in the Provincial Grand Lodge of Worcestershire and a Past Provincial Grand Steward in the Provincial Grand Chapter.

Jonti Marks and Bridie Blaze.
From their Kickstarter page.

Jonti has been interested in the deeper meanings of Freemasonry from the earliest days of his involvement with the Craft. He has always been keen to consider how the knowledge and wisdom contained in our rituals can be applied in a meaningful way to the life of every brother or companion who sits in lodge and chapter and who professes to subscribe to our particular and peculiar way of seeing the world.

You might be familiar with his series of books of Masonic meditations.

Of our artist, Lewis Masonic says:

Bridie Blaze is a Cornish folk artist living in Porto, Portugal, whose whimsical, hand-painted work celebrates the beauty of imperfection. Her art captures the wonky, wonderful magic of nature, folklore, and mystical traditions, embodying an essential truth: that light and beauty are found not in perfection, but in authentic, joyful expression.

All the cards, each measuring approximately 2¾ by 4¾ inches, and the book fit snugly inside a handy hard box with a magnetic lid that will prove durable for your travels. Put it in your apron case and bring it to lodge.

These cards are, yes, great for young Masons ripe for revelation; and, after possessing a deck more than a week, I have learned the Wisdom Cards also can remind those of us who’ve been around decades of the strength and beauty of our Craft’s tenets.

Click here.